David's Coffee Stains

The Unlevel Playing Field

A leader talked about a certain situation to a group that I'm a part of. One part of the group could take advantage of the situation and the other, no. The leader noted, 'You just have to accept that the playing field is not level.” But, I didn't want to accept an unlevel field”"unless it was tilted to my advantage.

You know it's funny. I was born in a free country and had a grandmother who loved the Lord Jesus and spoke to me about Him early in my life. I've had tough experiences, but on the whole my life has been easy. Never lived through World War II or a depression that brought the world to its knees, like my dad's generation. Today, there's a lady somewhere in the Darfour region of Sudan who had to run for her life. Evil men wanted to rape and kill her and her family. She's living in a make-do refugee camp and wonders what will become of her in the future while grieving her past. She's never really heard the Gospel, and the way things stand, she'll never hear it as clearly as I have.

Wow, I'd say that the playing field isn't level. Why am I so blessed that I have to discipline myself not to eat everything I want, and she has to live on handouts? Why are my kids doing well in life while some of hers were murdered? Why have I had the inestimable privilege of hearing about the Lord Jesus Christ, and hard men keep this news from her? Maybe, I ought to be excited about the blessings that I have instead of complaining about what others have that I don't.

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:47, 48, NIV)

There's an excellent chance that I'm going to have to report to the Lord about how I used my advantage--whether to fatten myself up or to heal others. If the field is tilted in my direction, I better be scoring more points. I better do something positive with my advantages. Is there anything I can do to level up the playing field? Can I help those who are on the low end of the field, because it sure looks like it's tilted from here. Tilted in my direction. _________________________

Hmmm...'What we are determines what we see. What we see determines how we act.” (Haddon Robinson? quoted by Joseph Dimitrov).